Four fitness fanatics reveal how their love of the gym and hard-training has left them with zero libido

The University of North Carolina studied people's exercise habits and how it impacted their libido levels

By Jenny Francis

15th October 2017,8:19 pm

Updated: 16th October 2017,4:53 am

THESE super-fit girls can lift weights without breaking sweat. But the one place that isn’t their strong point is the bedroom.

New research shows too much exercise can kill your sex drive. The University of North Carolina in the US studied people’s exercise habits and libido levels. It found those who train for a long time at high intensity suffer an almost instant loss of sex drive.

Women require a certain level of body fat for their reproductive system to work at its best

Exhaustion from training leaves some too tired to perform, while pushing yourself with extreme exercise can lead to an under-functioning pituitary gland, meaning low levels of testosterone and oestrogen.

Women also need a certain level of body fat for the reproductive system to work effectively.

Too much exercise and too little body fat can cause it to shut down, nipping passion in the bud.

Here, four fitness fans tell JENNY FRANCIS how working out in the gym and enjoying hard training has affected their love life.

24 year old Nikki has not had sex with her partner Jordan in over two months

“Every gram of excess weight was stripped from my body – better than any faddy diet.

“I now train every morning at 5.30 for two hours, then do an hour’s cardio every evening.

“It really impacts on my relationship. I haven’t been on a date night with Jordan since January and my libido has vanished.

“Right now I have zero sex drive so Jordan and I haven’t had made love for two months. Jordan hates it but he knows it’s not because I don’t fancy him. I love my training so much that two months ago I quit my job to do it full time.

Gabriella believes her body and fitness is more important than her sex life

“One morning, on a whim, I decided to join the nearby House of Pain boxing gym. I was nervous but when I left I was so full of energy I couldn’t wait to do it again.

Exercising is now like a drug to me. Within weeks I was training twice a day for two hours each session, five or six days a week. I still do that now.

“It’s 100 per cent effort training with weights, sparring and cardio. Boxing isn’t a sport you do by halves. I can hardly tie my shoe laces after I have finished a session, let alone think about sex. I used to have boyfriends but they ran their course.

“Now I don’t have time to meet men. I have realised I don’t need a relationship or sex to be happy. I value independence and fitness more than I thought possible. My sex life now is a dim and distant memory.

‘It was my physique which first attracted my man to me’

“I remember seeing a friend’s washboard stomach on holiday three years ago and thinking, ‘I want that’. I’d done a bit of running before but knew I had to hit the weights to get the body I wanted. So I joined a gym.

Millie Mahoney revealed that her low libido has put pressure on her relationship

“Five or six days a week I train as hard as I can for two hours, to the point of exhaustion. When Manny comes on to me, sex is the last thing I want as I’m shattered. I push away his hands. He’s visibly frustrated and takes a few minutes to calm down.

“Before I started training I would have sex at least five days a week, which seems strange now. I’m also obsessive about my diet, weighing every last gram of protein or carbs – which means we do not eat takeaways together or have date nights in restaurants. I’ve been with Manny for 18 months and he understands how much I love working out – it was my physique that first attracted him.

“I’m training for a bikini competition and we haven’t had sex for two months. I guess it’s a bit like giving up drinking for a month – you realise how much better you feel, then when it comes to the end of the month, you question if you actually want a drink at all any more.

THAT'S A BIT RICH!

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‘I have hard pecs instead of boobs so I don’t feel attractive’

STACEY BOYCE trains so hard that she often cannot even muster enough engery to cuddle her husband. The conference company director from Brighton goes to the gym daily and admits that starting at 5am or finishing after midnight means she has no time for sex. She says:

“Before I started with all the gym training, it was totally different between the two of us. We would have sex at least three times a week.

“Now, sometimes we don’t talk for days – and having sex even once a month is a push.

“My libido is non-existent. I know I’m demanding a lot from my body by lifting massive weights and sometimes I can’t even cuddle.

“Every single muscle in my body hurts, making sex completely out of the question.
I’m exhausted all the time and when I’m training hard I have hard pecs instead of boobs, so definitely don’t feel at all attractive or feminine.